I started blogging in October of 2011.  A few of you have been with me for the whole wild ride, and thank you so much!!!  One question I get asked a lot is why do you blog?

I’m sure my family would like the answer to that question some days, as well, since between blogging and my “regular” job I am working well over 40 hours a week (heck, I even blog at work sometimes, but shhhhh, don’t tell my boss).

Well, to give you my motivation, I first need to remind you where I was at in October 2011.  Art and I were in the process of losing our house, our water heater and dishwasher had gone out in a 48 hour period, and Art had been unemployed for 2 1/2 years.  In addition we were dealing with one child with anxiety disorder and chronic insomnia and the myriad of medication changes that entailed (not to mention “alternative” treatment which I may or may not ever disclose here) and a child in therapy with a gender specialist.

I had only told a handful of people about our situation, because honestly, who would believe me?

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What does this goofy, badly photoshopped picture have to do with blogging?

Hang on, hang on.  All will be revealed, I promise

You see, I’m participating in a blogging event, through Firepole Marketing, called the Great Online Marketing Scavenger Hunt.    We are wrapping up the second week of a five-week event with over 100 challenges to complete.  So far it has been a lot of fun, and as you can see by the above photo, I am learning to do new things and break out of my comfort zone.  Most of the time, I will be posting my challenges on my tumblr, so the loyal readers of this blog will not be disrupted by the silliness.  But every once in awhile, like today, I will ask you to bear with me.

If you are a blogger, and have any interest in the Scavenger Hunt, you can check it out at the link above.  If you decide to sign up, be sure to tel them that TeressaMorris sent you.

If you have read this far, you deserve to be rewarded!! Leave a comment on this post, letting me know why the firecat wants the fish.  I’ll pick my favorite to win a special treat from yours truly!!

I know this is a strange title, and you’re probably wondering – what’s a fairy hobmother?

Well, in the world of mom blogs, a visit from the fairy hobmother means you’ve finally arrived.  I’ve been trying to get a visit from the sneaky little devil for over a year, but he’s elusive (yes, the fairy hobmother is a he).  His goal is to spread light and joy across the blogosphere.

A week ago, I got an email titled Greetings from the Fairy Hobmother and here is what he said:

I was very impressed with what I saw, you clearly work very hard on your blog and I think that such hard work deserves to be rewarded.

I’d like to send you a $50 voucher for Amazon to brighten your day.

The fairy hobmother is the spritely representative for the fairy overlords.  I hope the next time he visits he brings me a new microwave.  Ours is 18 years old and I can tell it’s on its last legs.  At least I don’t think it’s supposed to smell like that, and should there be rust on the inside?

Would You Like a Visit from the Fairy Hobmother?

If you would like a visit from the fairy hobmother, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (make sure to include a link to your blog so he knows how to find you!!)  Tell the fairy hobmother why you would love for him to visit you!!

It’s that time of year again – time for reviewing the ups and downs of the past year and preparing for the new year!!  (I woke up this morning to dog poop all over the kitchen, so I’m hoping that’s a sign of good luck in some culture somewhere – if it is, please let me know.)

2012 in Review:

Blogging/Writing:

I resolved to increase my professional blog posts to 5 days per week by the end of the year.  I currently blog regularly 3 days a week with an increase as necessary and I am very happy with this schedule.

Health:

I overdid my health goals and didn’t actually meet any of them.  I came very close to completing a virtual 5k (within .5 miles).

Spiritual:

I resolved to do yoga/meditation once a week, complete 4 online Bible studies, attend church at least once a month and have a night out with friends once a month.  Completed 2 online Bible Studies, attended church 6 times in 2012, but did manage to meet the goal of a night out with friends once a month.

2013 Goals:

For 2013 I decided to only have one main goal for each of the three categories (blog/writing, health, spiritual).  Then under each goal, I can be more specific about how I will achieve it.

Blog/Writing:

• Finish my book on bullying by April 30th.  I will write for a minimum of 30 minutes per day to achieve this goal.
• Reach 10,000 pageviews per month by December 31, 2013.  I will continue to write and promote my blog to achieve this goal.

Health:

• Lose 20 pounds by December 31, 2013.  I will track my food at least 3 days per week and exercise for a minimum of 10 minutes per day to achieve this goal.

Spiritual:

• I will learn to trust God more and be less fearful in all circumstances.  I will achieve this goal through prayer, Bible study and community with other believers.

I believe these are much more manageable goals for 2013.  How was your 2012 and what are your plans for 2013?  Please share in the comments below.

Today is my one year blogaversary!!  I can’t believe how fast the year has gone by, how much I’ve learned and how many new friends I’ve made!!

As a thank you to my fans (and friends) I am holding my biggest giveaway yet!!  Here’s what you could win:

Lion King Platinum Edition on DVD

The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry (one of my 5 star reviews!!)

California King Salmon apron & hat plus a $20 Visa gift card

“Just Breathe” coffee mug

“Just Breathe” t-shirt (choice of men’s or women’s and choice of size and color)

 A Snomee Snowglobe gift card holder with a $25 Walgreens gift card

Enter on the Rafflecopter below.  Giveaway is open to residents of the United States, ages 13 and older.  Giveaway begins 12:01 a.m. ET on October 8, 2012 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on October 22nd, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is about memes – not just your plain, old everyday, run-of-the-mill memes, but really BAD memes.

But, for the uninitiated, what is a meme?  According to Webster’s Dictionary, a meme is:

a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.

Top Five Really Bad Memes

5. Batmanning

Source: harmonyhazard.tumblr.com via Teressa (Window on the World) on Pinterest

4. Water Wigs

Source: behance.net via Teressa (Window on the World) on Pinterest

3. Avril Lavigne – Chad Kroeger Mashup

Source: buzzfeed.com via Teressa (Window on the World) on Pinterest

2. Tebowing

Source: tebowing.com via Teressa (Window on the World) on Pinterest

And the #1 Really Bad Meme is:

Breading Cats

Source: breadedcats.com via Teressa (Window on the World) on Pinterest

If you have seen some really bad memes (even worse than mine?) around the Internet, please share them in the comment section.

I’ve been guest posting around the ‘net lately and I thought you might be interested in visiting me at my friends’ pages (at the end of the list I’ll tell you how you can guest post for me):

I wrote a post on Alternative Uses for Cloth Shopping Bags for Emily.

I shared my favorite recipe for Tuna Noodle Casserole at the Parent Palace.

And I returned to Nap Time is My Time with my recipe for Turkey Spaghetti.

Guest Posting Guidelines:

If you would like to guest post here at Window on the World, here’s all you need to do:

Click the contact form to the left and let me know what your post will be about.  Current topics we are looking for are: Devotions/Reflections, “Green” Tips and Gardening Tips.

Now that I have been blogging for 10 months, I want to help out new bloggers the way my friends helped me out.  Guest posting on another blog is a great way to build your readership!!

Bugbear: A persistent problem or source of annoyance. -Dictionary.com

I’m now at 10 months blogging.  I would by no means call myself an expert, but I do have a few pet peeves (or bugbears) that I write about from time to time.  The bugbear this week is family privacy.

I know, I know, who am I throw to throw stones? A good deal of my blog is about my family.  And even with all the pseudonyms, I know that if people dug hard enough they could figure out who my kids are.  But Boo and Bud are 20 and 17, plenty old enough to have their own Facebook page (or maybe even blog?) and to decide what they are willing or not for me to reveal about them.

Over my few months blogging I have noticed many mom blogs start out as personal blogs – a way to share Jon-Jon’s first steps with close friends and family.  But then these moms get bitten by the same writing bug I did and decide to expand their blog to include reviews, recipes, giveaways, etc.

The Problem:

The problem is that as these blogs grow their audience, they are still sharing intimate details of their children’s lives, including their birthdays, ages, occasionally real names, personal quirks, etc.  This information is now available for the whole world to read about.  Setting stalking concerns aside (although to me that is a big concern), what happens to these kids when they’re adults?  Here’s a question posed by a reader of the NY Times Parenting Blog way back in 2009:

What’s going to happen in 5 or 10 years (depending on the age of the kids) when they learn how to use Google and find what their parents have been posting about them for the entire world to read?

…, once you post something online, you can’t take it back. My friends and I joke how back when we were in school, the teachers always threatened to put things on our “permanent record”, and the web has now become everyone’s permanent record. How are kids going to react when they see what their parents have written about them and posted it for public consumption? Should parents use more judgment in what they write? Should they use pseudonyms? - New York Times, August 31, 2009

So, I’m curious what my readers have to say on this topic.  Even with my children’s permission, have I revealed too much about them?  How do we protect our children from the “permanent record” of the Internet?  Please leave your comments!!

I swore I would not be one of those people who acted like a blogging “expert” before my blog was one year old.  Well, I’ve only been blogging for eight months, and I am by no means an expert, but I do have a few pet peeves (or bugbears) that I feel the need to vent about.  Thus a new series is born!!

Webster’s defines due diligence as:

research and analysis of a company or organization done in preparation for a business transaction

More than once, lately, I have run into the situation where a blogger offers other bloggers an opportunity (sponsored post, ad placement, etc.). Then when I pursued the offer, I found out that either the sponsor was offering far less money than what had been mentioned previously, or upon googling the sponsor, I found that they had no track record.  Now I will not recommend or place ads on my blog for any sponsor or product I do not have first hand knowledge of, so I passed up these opportunities.  But I personally believe that the bloggers offering the opportunity should have vetted the sponsors ahead of time.  I know it is a lot of work to offer opportunities to other bloggers, but I also believe that taking that little bit of extra time to do your due diligence is well worth it.

Another thing I have noticed is that some bloggers (especially newbies) get so excited and anxious to do their first sponsored post or their first review, that they take whatever is offered them without doing due diligence or without thinking about whether this product or topic is something their readers would actually be interested in.  I understand if you’re trying to make money from your blog (so am I), but if you turn off your readers, you’ll lose your sponsorships anyway.

So the bugbear fix of the week is : Do Your Due Diligence!!